


1943 letters.

by chanmosphere



Series: Tales of Chanbaek [9]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, domestic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 13:50:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13812492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanmosphere/pseuds/chanmosphere
Summary: Baekhyun break into his own house to get what his grandfather left for him. He and Chanyeol didn’t expect to find what they found.





	1943 letters.

**Author's Note:**

> Not up for sequels.

"Ouch!" Chanyeol's jumping on his right foot and holding at his left, hissing and whining at the pain on his toe. Old, wooden wardrobes, be damned.

"Sshh!" Baekhyun hushes him as he makes his way through old furniture covered with white sheets to prevent them from gathering dust and Chanyeol can't stop the snort coming out of his mouth at how terrible the idea is. It doesn’t even work.

There's also an old book shelf filled with thick books and very old magazines on one side of the wall, cardboard boxes here and there, old rocking chairs, more boxes and more weird stuff Chanyeol doesn't feel the need to know about. Baekhyun's mom has always being a strange woman.

"We could go to jail! You know, for trespassing..." Chanyeol grits his teeth.

"I have the key to the front door, baby please, focus." Baekhyun responds.

"What are we looking for, again?" He asks, scratching at his head and looking around the place.

"An old wooden trunk. It shouldn't be locked; grandpa told me I could look through it whenever I wanted."

"And this is the first time you do it since he died?"

"I didn’t need to, until know." He shrugs. "Because is not fair that mom doesn't want me to have his military badge just because I'm marrying another man. He left it for me, he said it himself!" Baekhyun grumbles.

Baekhyun takes a few more steps and he feels it before he sees it as he trips over a medium size trunk, light brown wood and rusty rivets on the corners, just the same as where a padlock should be.

"Are you okay?" Chanyeol rushes to his fiancé, but Baekhyun's already sitting up.

"Yeah, I think I found it." He whispers.

Baekhyun wastes no time on open it, rummaging through old clothes, pictures, small boxes and yellowy envelopes. Still, no badge.

Chanyeol sits next to his fiancé to help him look through, but gets distracted by a bunch of black and white photographs. He bites his lip and carefully pulls them out of the trunk, afraid that they will crumble at any moment.

"You didn't tell me what the badge is about." He says slowly, eyes scanning on the first picture.

"He got it when they named him Captain of his platoon. Also wore it when he married my grandmother. Just before he died, he told me it was mine to wear it on my own wedding."

"Hey Baek, our grandfathers were friends, right?" Chanyeol asks, ignoring is fiancé's previous words as he frowns down at one of the pictures.

"Uh yeah, he told me they both were part of the same squad for a couple of months. Why?"

"Look at this." The younger says, passing the picture he was holding at Baekhyun.

There, in an old sepia color, were two men that looked oddly too much like themselves. Smiling widely at the camera, hugging each other by the shoulders. They looked simply happy, with no worries in the world, wearing their soldiers’ uniforms with pride. Baekhyun flips the picture and scowls.

 _"December 12th, 1940. Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun. Be safe."_ He says. "I was named after my grandfather."

"So was I." Chanyeol answers, peaking at the picture from above Baekhyun's shoulder. "This is so awkward..."

"He did mention they were friends, but never this close." Baekhyun mumbles as he keeps flipping the picture, hoping to find something more.

"Weird, I never met my grandpa but my nana was always talking about the old days, she never mentioned him either... oh look, letters." The younger eagerly takes the envelopes, timeworn and of a yellowy color.

Baekhyun takes one and opens it without hesitation, pulling out the paper sheet and unfolding it before Chanyeol's eyes, who curiously waits for his fiancé to start reading.

 _"January 10th, 1943. My dear Baekhyun, I really am sorry. I know I promised you I was going to do everything in my power to stop your reassignment. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder enough. You don't know how much I feel your absence, how much I wish you were here, to know you're safe. Please promise me you will be careful. I promise to write again soon. Yours, Chanyeol. Stay safe."_ Baekhyun's voice falters at the end, that was unexpected.

"Um that... that doesn’t sound like a _friendly_ letter." Chanyeol twists a smile. "Here, open this one." He hands him another envelope.

 _"September 23th, 1943. My dear Baekhyun. It's around midnight and I can still hear the sound of gunshots in the distance. It's a cold night and I would give everything I have to have you here, to feel your warm body against mine..."_ Baekhyun stops for a second and swallows, Chanyeol nudges him for him to continue, _"your hands, your lips. To hug you, to... make love to you..._ oh my god, Chanyeol!" Baekhyun lets the letter fall into his lap and turns to look at his boyfriend. "They... they were... together? How─"

Chanyeol squeals. "Here, here. Read this one." He says excitedly, passing him yet another envelope.

_"February 15th, 1945. Baekhyun, the war is over now. We made it! I'm so happy to hear that you're back home with your family and... I know I promised you I was going to talk to Soomin and tell her about us, but I couldn't and I'm sorry. I'm a coward, I know and you deserve better than this. What can we do? We were doomed from the beginning to live the lives everyone expected us to live, with a good woman beside us, children, a family. I hope you can understand. This is a goodbye, but I will always keep you in my heart. My love for you is everlasting. Yours, Chanyeol."_

Baekhyun remains silent for a moment, trying to process the words written on that letter. It is a total shock and he doesn't know what to think about it. His train of thoughts is interrupted by a loud sob next to him. Surprised, he turns his body to face his fiancé.

"Are you... crying?" Baekhyun asks carefully.

"I can't believe it." Chanyeol’s voice wavers a little. "They were in love. They loved each other and couldn't be together, I─"

Baekhyun chuckles and coos at his boyfriend, moving closer to wrap his arms around his body.

"Look at the bright side, those were different and harder times. Plus, our parents wouldn't have born. _We_ wouldn't have born and we wouldn't have met each other, certainly we wouldn't be here having this conversation."

Chanyeol sniffles and wipes the small tears and snot out of his face with the back of his hand and looks up at Baekhyun, who's still smiling at him.

"You're right. Cheers for our grandfathers' honor." He jokes and Baekhyun laughs, shaking his head as he stands up and cleans off the dust from his pants.

"Come on, let's get some lunch before our meeting with the florist." He stretches his hand for Chanyeol.

"What about the badge?" He asks, sniffling again.

"Forget about the badge. This was far more interesting than a badge. I could rub this on my mother’s face if she ever dares to say anything about us again." Baekhyun shrugs and Chanyeol chuckles, nodding in agreement. He takes Baekhyun's hand and jumps off the floor.

"Can we get some pizza?"

"Sure, baby. Anything you want."


End file.
